“The bill which I co-sponsored in the House is a bill to establish the national council for Christian Education in Nigeria, and not to control.”
“The bill which I co-sponsored in the House is a bill to establish the national council for Christian Education in Nigeria, and not to control.”
Hon. Rima Shawulu Kwewum, former member of the House of Representatives, has clarified that the bill in the House of Representatives to regulate and set standards for the practice of Christianity in Nigeria is not one that will control the practice of Christianity in Nigeria, rather, it is to establish a National Council for Christian Education.
Kwewum, while speaking in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Thursday, said, “The bill that I know which I co-sponsored in the house of representatives is a bill to establish the national council for Christian Education in Nigeria, and not to control.”
The former H.O.R member then explained that the bill was brought up as there were demands being made by Christians in various communities. He said, “There have been demands from the Christian community largely about having a council on Christian Education.” He then recounted what the Christian Association of Nigeria said in the press statement, “The report that the bill seeks to regulate Christianity or censor Christian preaching and preachers was totally mischievous and maliciously spilled out to cause confusion between the CAN, the sponsors of the bill and the Christian community.”
He said the aim of the bill is to standardize Christian education and recognise certificates from christian institutions and theological centres.
Explaining the needs that the bill will meet, he said, “There are several states in Northern Nigeria in particular today where Christian Religious Education, CRK, is not being taught in public schools because there are no people who are certified to teach that in schools. There is a gap that needs to be filled, namely that you need to have teachers that are certified to teach Christian Religious knowledge in public schools for the school system. That is one of the roles that the council is supposed to play.
“The second one is that as at today, many people may not be aware, if you finish from any seminary or theological institution in Nigeria, that certificate is not recognized by the public system in Nigeria. It can only operate in your church, even if you are a professor from a theological institution, simply because there is no council, there is no board that can set standards and monitor the training so that those certifications will be recognized by the public system.
“So, these are the two main things that our bill sought to solve in Nigeria. It’s not just a bill that was brought up, it’s a bill that came because there have been demands.
“Christian education has been operating in the fringes of the public education system in Nigeria and we thought that there is need to bridge this particular gap so that the training is recognized.”
Ozioma Samuel-Ugwuezi
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